https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P7F5hwK-iL6ClLwYxjJ9BBw2WkEP7Jrhr1KntzW1KQk/edit?usp=sharing
Fleeing into the night; having lost two of their group, the party came to their senses. A vote was cast to turn the barge around and return to the unnamed village; to take on any more survivors or supplies they could find.
A mass of undead still remained, trapping a small few survivors on rooftops. But it seemed the horde no longer acted under any authority, the Ghoulcaller that commanded them having fled. It was also discovered that the witch had taken the village’s children deep into the swamp with her. For what nefarious purpose nobody knew.
The most well armed survivors girded their loins and headed into the swamp to save the children, and to face down whatever challenges might lie in wait.
Hours later, just as dawn began to break, The party returned, with all the children in tow. All but one, it was said by the townsfolk later. They heard tales from the kids of monstrous undead with knives for fingers, dressed as immobile scarecrows that would strike when you came near, and of a man and woman who were once wed sown together in death; a monstrous Skaab with multiple limbs. How the adventurers had defeated the witch, the children did not say. And could only cast their eyes downwards.
Saddling up, the party returned to the repaired barge, that now carried far fewer passengers, and one coach strapped down to the deck. They pushed on, deeper into Nephalia. The coast lay ahead.
But the swamps had not finished claiming lives yet, it seemed.
The pole barge hit a patch of white water, and accelerated. Behind them, a familiar shape hoved into view. A massive frog, easily keeping pace with its long legs. On its back, grasping the many large warts and nodules like rocks on a climbing wall, were the Skiltfolk; those river guide mafiosos that periodically used their traveling caravan as sacrificial fodder for the giant frog they paid homage to in exchange for bounty and prosperity. The swamp people drew long gigging spears and shouldered flintlock rifles.
These Skiltfolk believed the party had made off with all their money, and would take their pound of flesh by any means necessary.
The party fought off the rivermen, throwing many of them into the undiscerning jaws of the Gitrog monster. The frog itself proved too tough to fight head on, and an accord was struck between the Skiltfolk and the party. Jane Kingshead parted ways with her river-kin, and the Skiltfolk who remained rode the pacified Gitrog back to Stopgap, satisfied that the partymembers who'd survived the Ghoulcaller's attack did not have their missing money.
The party arrived in the Nephalian city of Havengul, disembarking from the Ospid river--and began to settle in, taking jobs as monster hunters and collectors of rare reagents where they could. Rex met Lorenz the vampire highwayman once more, intimidating rich townsfolk at a social club known as the Verdant Lion, and saved a waitress from being mauled by the bloodthirsty agent of Olivia Voldaren. The group also became acquainted with Runo Stromkirk, a noble with strange taste in the occult who was willing to sponsor the group in exchange for any relics they might find.
Our heroes begin the hunt for an escaped experimental Skaab, codenamed the "Overcharged Amalgam," by its creator; Geralf the Stitcher.
Koot invites himself in, Anna shoots her shot, and Reynauld falls in a hole.
